


trust every word i say

by theafterimages



Series: playground [3]
Category: GOT7, KARA (Band)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-04-21 11:14:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4827011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theafterimages/pseuds/theafterimages
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>What could Jackson have to say that he’d be </i>this <i>worried about?</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	trust every word i say

**Author's Note:**

> This installment is set during 2006. Thank you to A for betaing!

Youngji sighs in relief as soon as she gets off the bus, then turns to Jackson, who’s a step behind her. “Finally!” she says, linking arms with him like always. “You’re not going to talk about that Grey’s Anatomy guy, right?”

Jackson startles. “What? No.”

“Good, I kept hearing about him all day,” she says, rolling her eyes. She'll never understand why so many of her classmates want to talk about celebrities when they could talk about sports or music instead. “Was it like that for you, too?”

“Yeah, I guess. A lot of people talked about it.”

“I don’t even watch it, so I don’t know who they’re talking about, and who cares if he’s gay?” Jackson full-body flinches against her side, and she gives him a quick look, surprised. “Do you?”

“No,” he says hurriedly.

“Okay. I don’t get why everybody cares about famous people, anyway.”

“Me, either,” he agrees, and she nods in satisfaction before changing the subject.

Youngji always goes to Jackson’s house after school, since her parents both work late. They had given her her own house key this summer and told her she was old enough to go home after school with her sister, but Youngji hasn’t taken them up on the offer yet. She’d rather hang out with Jackson.

Jackson’s mom welcomes them and listens to stories about their day, then makes sure they have snacks before they go to the rec room to continue their latest Star Wars marathon on the giant TV.

Once they're settle in, Episode V playing and blankets arranged, Youngji notices a few weird things. For one, even though it’s just them Jackson’s still not saying much of anything; for another, he’s barely eating, spending more time toying with pieces of popcorn than actually putting any in his mouth.

“Are you okay?” Youngji asks abruptly.

“I’m fine,” Jackson insists. 

“No you’re not, you’re way too quiet. What’s wrong?”

Jackson looks at her, then away again. “I don’t know if I can tell you.”

“What?” She scoots closer to him on the couch, touching his arm. Something about how closed in on himself he is reminds her of second grade, back when he was being bullied by those older kids. “Are you okay? Nobody, like, did anything, or-”

“No! It’s nothing like that, okay. It’s like—there’s something you don’t know about me, and I don’t…”

Youngji tries to wrap her head around that idea. It’s not as if Jackson knows literally everything about her, or like she’d want him to, but they’ve been inseparable for twelve years now. It’s weird to think Jackson could be afraid to tell her something.

“You can tell me,” she insists. “I’m your best friend.”

“I know,” he says, his voice small and his gaze fixed on his hands. “Just—promise you won’t freak out?”

“Promise.”

“Okay.” He closes his eyes, and she can see him take a deep breath. She takes one, too. What could Jackson have to say that he’d be this worried about?

“I like guys,” Jackson blurts out, then pauses, giving her a stricken look. “I mean, I like girls, too! Just, like, I like guys, too. Guys and girls.”

_This_ is what he’d been nervous to say? “I know that,” she reminds him.

“What do you mean? You can really tell? Is it obvious?”

She frowns, more bewildered than ever. “You already told me.”

“ _What_?”

“You did, remember? In third grade, when you wanted to marry Mark!”

“What are you even talking about?” Jackson demands, gaping at her.

“You asked me who I was gonna marry and I said Jay Chou. I asked you who _you_ were gonna marry and you said Mark and kept talking about how you guys would get a house with the biggest swimming pool ever.”

He bursts out laughing. “I did not! Seriously?”

“It happened, I swear!”

“I was really dumb. Who’d want to marry _Mark_?”

“Half the girls in school,” she points out. 

Jackson shakes his head, his smile fading. “But you knew, and you don’t think I’m weird? Or… anything?”

“No, why would I-” Youngji begins. Then she thinks about what their classmates had been saying about that actor, and how ‘weird’ was one of the nicer terms they’d used for him, and tries to imagine what it must have been like for Jackson to hear all that. She quickly hugs him, unsurprised when he clings to her. “I don’t care who you like, okay? You’re my best friend no matter what.”

“Okay.” 

Youngji leans her head against his shoulder, pretending not to notice how choked up he’d sounded, and he rests his cheek against her hair, both of them watching the movie in contemplative silence. For the next few minutes, anyway.


End file.
